Keeping In Step
by Cali Dreamweaver
Summary: Formerly entitled "The Zai of Reunion". Due to Ueki's Zai of Reunion or maybe something more, Rinko and Sano meet each other three years after the God Battles. Will something finally happen to this shiptease couple?
1. Invitation

**The Zai of Reunion**

_**A Law of Ueki Fanfiction**_

Sano Seiichiro X Rinko Gerrard

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**Ch. 1 - Invitation**

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_The invitation was delivered by a man in a crisp uniform that was completely incongruous with its patterns of pink lace and yellow flowers. Sano hadn't needed to see the Gerrard Foundation logo on the man's collar to know who had sent him. He took the envelope, opened it, and began to read._

**.~*~.**

The invitation came just as the first week of summer vacation was beginning. Rinko nearly threw it out along with the junk mail that the Gerrards sometimes got, when her parents' secretaries and personal assistants weren't very thorough with their morning tasks. Her parents weren't very keen on socializing unless it was with the right people, and the right people could generally afford to have their invitations brought in person by some subordinate, rather than having to rely on registered mail. Still, she paused over the envelope. She couldn't quite place it, but it smelled sort of familiar. She thought about it for a while, and decided that the envelope smelled like sandalwood soap over mineral salt or maybe warm metal, the mixed scent one she associated with spas and hot spring resorts.

She opened the envelope. She was right: it had come from Sano Seiichiro, inviting her to the soft opening of his hot spring resort.

She smiled. _So he had managed to make his dream come true,_ she thought. It had taken him over three years, but so what? All in all – especially considering the injuries he'd sustained at the end of the God Battles, and not receiving the Null Zai's aid to boot – he'd done an amazing job…

"Has it really been three years?" she said softly to herself. She looked at the invitation again. There was a small, handwritten note inserted into a corner of it. _Ueki, Mori, Hideyoshi, and Kobasen are coming. I have reserved rooms for you._

_Isn't that just like Sano,_ Rinko thought. _So presumptuous. I might have been busy._ She flipped open the pocket organizer that she had toted around since entering high school, and logged the weekend in among her appointments. _Still, since he's already made the arrangements, it's a good thing I hadn't anything planned. It'll be good to see them again._

**.~*~.**

Sano was a bundle of nerves as he waited for his guests to arrive. He wasn't worried that his place wouldn't come up to scratch. He had worked on it intermittently over the course of three years, taking on odd jobs in the evenings to finance himself rather than attending cram school, spending his weekends and holidays digging and shaping instead of with his peers. The resort was a small one, still, fitting at the most around ten people, but it had a simple and homey elegance, and it wasn't meant to be a business anyway. Nevertheless, Sano was a bit nervous about showing the culmination of his dream to other people.

_It's a natural thing,_ he told himself. _We were very good companions, and we were even friends, but I haven't seen them in over two years. Who knows what might have changed._

**.~*~.**

Nothing much, it seemed, as the group sat down to a small dinner later that evening. Everyone had come and mostly had contributed something to the table, although Sano, as the host, had prepared most of the food. Mori's bentou was, as usual, extremely large and contained something that appeared suspiciously as if it were alive. By now, however, everyone except Kobasen had experienced enough of Mori's cooking to know that no matter how horrible it looked, it actually tasted pretty good. Nobody refused second helpings.

Ueki, too, didn't seem to have changed – he looked as obtuse and acted as directly as ever. He did seem somewhat more… charismatic, but Sano supposed that, with the help of the Zai of Reunion that Ueki had turned the Null Zai into at the end of the God Battles, the talents that he'd lost in battle were slowly beginning to return to their proper owner. (Actually, Ueki still hadn't told anyone what he'd written on the Null Zai, but Mori had found out around seven or eight months after the God Battles and of course she'd spread the information around.) It had hardly surprised anyone that he had chosen something so simple and even frivolous; that was typically Ueki. What was surprising was how wise it seemed, later on, the more one thought of its implications. Here was a prime example. Ueki had once had a Charm Zai; now, apparently, he had it back, and probably a handful or two of others besides. This was a good thing. The last time Sano had been with Ueki, at the end of the God Battles, he'd been one Zai short of completely disappearing.

Sano hadn't been around Hideyoshi and Kobasen long enough to judge if they had changed: most of the time that Mori and Ueki had spent getting to know Hideyoshi, Sano had spent in the hospital with Rinko, recuperating from their battle at Doguro Mansion with Robert's 10. Kobasen meanwhile had spent most of the God Battles in the Death Row of Hell's Prison with Inumaru, who had then been Sano's God Candidate. Inumaru was God, now. Sano wished he could have invited Inumaru to his resort, but there simply wasn't time – he couldn't even spare Yodogawa, who had been Ueki's second God Candidate and was now God's Assistant.

Sano admitted, deep, deep inside, that the person whose opinion most concerned him was Rinko. Rinko was the person he'd spent the most time with and, of the group, the one he knew best and the most intimately. True, they had spent a great deal of their time at loggerheads with each other, because they were complete opposites. But there is no better way to get to know a person's essence than to fight them, and then to fight with them, and on the battle field they had realized that they could complement each other. He observed her covertly throughout dinner, wondering what she thought of everything, noting that the past three years had brought her to physical maturity, and worrying that she might have changed beyond the obvious.

"If you're thinking dirty thoughts, Sano-kun, you'd better stop," Rinko said suddenly, punching him on the shoulder. "You're grinning at me strangely and I don't like it."

"What?" Sano replied, thrown off his musing. He frowned at her in mock outrage. "Do you really think so low of me?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" was her quick rejoinder.

Beaten for the round, Sano coughed and stood up. Time for a change of tactics. "Okay, everyone, time to head for the baths," he said.

**.~*~.**

'The baths' was actually one large pool, with a bit of a bamboo divider in the middle. "Sorry about that," Sano said, with an embarrassed grin. "I hadn't quite managed to make a separate pool for girls, yet."

"That's okay," Ueki said. He took out a bit of trash from his pocket and grew a thicket of trees across the middle of the pool. "There, now there are two areas," he said.

"Good enough," Hideyoshi declared. Mori was less accepting. "Nobody had better peek," she warned, glaring at Ueki and Hideyoshi, "and if I see anyone climbing the trees they'll regret it for the rest of their lives."

"I'm already regretting it!" Hideyoshi teased, making eyes at Mori, who threw a rock at him. Sano, however, stepped between them and caught the rock. "No violence after dinner," he said firmly, "it's a house rule."

"You're making it up," Mori complained.

"It's my house," Sano reminded her. She seemed about to say something else, maybe argue some more – she wasn't this argumentative in his memory, although she'd been rather aggressive and nagging; maybe Ueki had spoiled her – so Sano gave her a towel and a bathrobe to shut her up. "The changing room's that way," he said, pointing to it with one hand as he handed Rinko her towel and bathrobe with the other. She accepted it without comment and hurried after Mori.

**.~*~.**

Later, after everyone had soaked to their hearts' content and all were making ready for bed, Sano stopped in front of the room being shared by Rinko and Mori. He knocked hesitantly. "Come in," Mori's voice called. "We're decent."

Sano opened the door. Mori grinned when she saw him. "I thought it was you," she said. "Hideyoshi would have pounded on the door, and Ueki would not have bothered to knock." She laughed. "And, of course, Kobasen would not be knocking at girls' doors at this hour."

"Everything all right?"

"Yes, it's great," Mori replied. Sano smiled at her, his eyes searching out Rinko. "How about you? No problems?" he asked her.

Mori grinned slyly. _So that's how it goes,_ she thought. "Ah, I just remembered, I have to check if Ueki's unpacked properly," she said. "Excuse me." She stepped into the doorway so that Sano, who was still trying to talk to Rinko, had to step into the room to allow her to pass – and then she pulled the door shut behind her as she went into the hallway. She held the door closed as Sano pounded it from the other side. "You two have a nice chat in there," she said, "but don't do anything!"

She could hear Rinko and Sano's voices calling after her. "Ai-chan!" "Mori!" She sniggered. _It's time you two had a talk,_ she told them in her head, and went on her way with a smile.

When Mori failed to return, Sano and Rinko stopped calling out. "Well, it's not like we haven't been alone in a bedroom before," Sano sighed, shrugging. "Of course, neither of us was in any shape to even move, so – "

"You're not implying something, are you, Sano-kun?" Rinko asked. Her voice was sugar-sweet but Sano thought he could detect an edge of menace to it. He swallowed and loosened his collar just a bit. "N-not at all," he said. "I only wanted to talk to you."

"Alright. About what?"

Was he imagining it, or was she just a little bit flushed? – _Don't read too much into things,_ he told himself sternly. _If she's a little pink, so what? She's just spent an hour soaking in hot water._ The reminder made him notice other things, now. He'd already noticed that Rinko had grown – not that much taller, but more mature, more womanly; she'd been a pretty girl, but now she was bordering on beautiful. Now he observed that she smelled of the resort's sandalwood soap, a brand Sano himself used, and it was almost like he could smell himself on her skin. _Damn this,_ he thought.

"Okay, that's it, I think you need to cool your head," Rinko said decisively, as she had read his mind. One hand clamped over Sano's wrist. "Come out of the house, Sano-kun. Let's go for a walk."

**.~*~.**

Walking under the moonlight, just the two of them, brought back memories. _He'd been the one to invite her outside, then. He'd said it was so that Mori and Ueki could have a moment alone, but what he had really wanted to do was ask her if, perhaps, after the God Battles were over, she might want to go out with him on a date. He had wanted to tell her that he'd never met anyone like her. She could drive him mad, she was so stubborn and cautious, but he admired her pluck and her capability to plan and execute elaborate schemes. At the same time she was so gentle she would get hurt rather than harm an animal, and so kind-hearted she would always try to find a way to defeat her enemy without hurting them, so that sometimes she got hurt instead. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to protect her, and ask her if she would let him. He never got the words out, though. It was too obvious that she still felt something for Robert Haydn. Sano had told her not to worry, that they would definitely get him back from Anon, and he had consoled her while she tearfully explained that even if her feelings were one-sided she intended to offer them to Robert anyway. It wasn't as if Sano couldn't understand. He intended to tell her, too. Then, of course, Anon ate God, and then the Fourth Round started and everything save the life-and-death battle was driven from their minds._

"So… how are things between you and Robert?"

Rinko took a moment to reply. "I wondered what you wanted to talk to me about, and that was it?" she said at length. "You're a bit late on the news. Actually, Robert and I broke up more than two years ago. He's with Marilyn now."

Actually, Sano had heard from Mori that Rinko had gotten together and subsequently broken up with Robert within six months of the end of the God Battles. Still, he had wanted to hear it from Rinko herself. She had surprised him, though. "Marilyn – Marilyn Kerry?"

Rinko laughed quietly. "Why the surprise? She's actually very nice, you know, and I think they're pretty good for each other."

_Pretty good? Pretty scary is more like it,_ Sano thought, imagining the two blonde, blue-eyed fighting machines together and having to repress a shudder of dread. Rinko observed it and smirked. "Hasn't any of Marilyn Team been writing to you? Marilyn writes a lot to Ueki and Ai-chan, and after she got together with Robert, she's been writing to me too. Robert goes out for parties, now. They're much nicer now than they used to be, you know. Ueki got to them."

"He does that," Sano agreed. "It's good, though. You don't seem very broken up about the whole Robert-Marilyn thing."

"Oh, ha-ha, I was," Rinko said drily. "You should have seen me right afterwards. I was a complete wreck. I mean I thought I'd be okay with it, because I was the one who broke up with Robert, but…"

Sano felt the urge to put his arm round her and pat her back consolingly. He said instead, "Can you tell me about it? Or is it none of my business?"

"Actually, I don't know what to tell you," Rinko replied. "You're aware, of course, that I liked Robert for a really long time, completely one-sidedly?"

Sano nodded.

"Well, after the God Battles, he seemed so changed that I went ahead and confessed to him. He took it really well, for him – I mean he's not exactly normal, is he, he's a bit awkward even now –"

"That's an understatement," Sano muttered under his breath.

"– and we agreed to go out. We'd been together maybe two months when we had our first official date. After that I can't remember what happened, but we must have been in a fight or something and I must have blacked out, because the next thing I knew Robert was beat up really bad and had to be hospitalized for a week. He wouldn't talk to me and finally I just told him it was all over."

_I know what probably happened,_ Sano thought, struggling to keep a poker face. _Robert must have said something wrong and brought out Rinko's Evil Side. She beat him up and forgot all about it. No wonder he wouldn't talk to her._ He almost told her his theory. Almost. To tell the truth, Sano was afraid of what might happen if Rinko ever found out about her evil persona. Shooting the messenger with bead-sized bombs was probably the least of it. "Well, I'm glad you're okay now," he said awkwardly.

Rinko smiled. "Yes, perfectly okay," she said. "I've even gone on double-dates and triple-dates with Marilyn and Robert. It's all good."

"With whom?" Sano found himself asking.

"Oh, it depends," Rinko said lightly. She held up her fingers and began to count on them. "Usually with Ueki and Ai-chan. Once or twice with Caption of Caption Team, oh and I did go out once with Gr_, that guy who could turn models into reality. I've been going with Edward Kilnorton, mostly, though. The guy on Ballow Team, with an IQ of 179? He seems best able to handle being in Robert and Marilyn's presence."

"That weakling!" Sano snorted, put off. "He couldn't even last a minute against Anon!"

"Nevertheless he got into a top high school," Rinko countered. "He's tall, and he knows how to play the piano, and if he leaves Bianca at home he's got eyes only for me."

"Bianca?"

"His glasses."

"Oh, right, I remember." Sano nodded. "Come on, though, Rinko. Surely you could have done better than Kilnorton?"

Rinko shrugged. "Maybe," she said. She wasn't as interested in the topic as Sano was. She clapped her hands over her arms. "It's getting kind of cold, isn't it?"

Sano was immediately solicitous. "Do you want to go in now?"

Rinko shook her head. "Later. Ah… how do I put this…"

Sano stood stock-still. He could hear his heart thumping against his chest. _She wasn't planning to – was she?_

"I wanted to thank you," Rinko said in a rush. "I mean, I heard… during the Marilyn Team battle, you carried me to safety when I had fainted, even if I was completely useless. When Anon was making his Path and I fell off the cliff, you pulled me up. And during the last battle –"

"There's no need for thanks," Sano said, interrupting her. "We were companions. Of course I had to save you." He turned away, and added softly, "But, even if we hadn't been…" His voice grew stronger and surer. "You weren't weak, or useless, Rinko. The Marilyn Team was very good, way above our level at that point. It was my fault you got knocked out. I knew your fighting style and I was supposed to back you up, but I was so worried about the lack of fighting ability in Hideyoshi and Mori that I didn't watch out for you."

"You shouldn't have had to," Rinko said, shaking her head. "I wasn't supposed to be a liability, I was supposed to be able to fight. But I was much too slow."

"Ah," Sano said, not denying it because it was true. "Nevertheless, how was I to call myself a man when I let someone important to me get hurt?"

"Oh!" Rinko gasped. This time she really blushed. Sano realized what he'd said and blushed too. "I- I mean, you're my friend, and of course you're important to me," he stammered. _Coward,_ he chided himself, but he couldn't help it.

"O-Of course," Rinko agreed. The two of them were silent for a long moment, trying to avoid looking at each other. Finally Rinko said, "I think we should turn in. We're tired."

Sano was not sure if he was glad to agree.

**(to be continued)**

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**A/N: **This is my first ever Ueki fanfic! Please review. I have three more chapters coming up, but I'm not done writing them yet, haha~

Oh yes, some notes:

Canonically, **Sano Seiichiro** is 15 years old during the God Battles (having been born on Feb 6 of an unspecified year). His blood type is O. He is in 9th Grade at Inaho Middle School. Apparently, since he has been shown to hitch-hike and go mountain-climbing randomly, never mentions family of any sort, and has a very intense attachment to Inumaru, he is an orphan or at least is living alone in the country. According to Mori, immediately after the school year of the God Battles ended, having taken high school entrance exams, he spent his vacation looking for hot springs. He intends to study geography in high school and probably in college as well. _For the purposes of this fic and any other Ueki fics I might write, I shall assume that Sano rents an apartment by himself, somewhere near whatever his school is. Somehow I imagine him as an Okinawan._

Canonically, **Rinko Gerrard (Gerrad, Jerrad – sp. varies) **is 15 years old, born on December 24 of an unspecified year. Her blood type is AB. She is in 9th Grade of an unknown middle school. Her family is very rich. Presumably, given especially that her name is given with the surname said last, she is only half Japanese (if at all); also, it must be her father that is foreign. According to Mori, after the God Battles, she confessed to Robert Haydn (presumably, another foreigner or halfie, although since he really is a Heavenly Being who can tell? – who, canonically, is only 14 – a year younger than Rinko), but (a) in the manga, Robert unknowingly insulted her and she beat him up in Evil Rinko mode and (b) in the anime, Mori just says that while they dated once, she "broke up with [him] for unknown reasons". _For the purposes of this and any other Ueki fic that I may write, I have assumed that the Gerrards have a Japan residence in Azabu, which is a prime residential area with many consulates and close to several foreign embassies. Descriptions of the Gerrard residence are modeled after the homes of Suou Tamaki (Ouran High School Host Club) and Nakahara Mine (Yamato Nadeshiko Sichi Henge). I have also assumed that Rinko's father is either French or Danish, and that she attends an exclusive international school (of which there are two or three in the Azabu area). Lastly, I have assumed her to be younger than Sano._

**Last name - Gerrard: **This distinguished name is of Old Germanic origin, from a personal name introduced into Britain by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066 in the Old French forms "Gerard, Gerart" and "Girart". These were adapted from the Old Germanic "Gerhard, Girhard", composed of the elements "geri, gari", spear, and "hard", hardy, brave, strong. The personal name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the Latinized forms "Gerardus" and "Girardus", and one Jerard "filius (son of) archidiaconi" is mentioned in the Lincolnshire Documents relating to the Danelaw of 1149 - 1162. The personal name proved very popular, as can be deduced from the great number and variety of variant forms that were generated from it, almost all of which are surviving as surnames. These range from Garrett, Garratt, Garred, Garrad, Jarratt and Jarad, to Garrard, Gerrard, Jarrard and Jerrard. One Edward Garrard was an early emigrant to the New World Colonies, leaving London on the "Ann and Elizabeth" in April 1635, bound for St. Christophers and the Barbadoes. A Coat of Arms granted to a family of the name depicts two silver lions combatant on a blue shield, while the Crest is a wivern, tail nowed proper pierced through the neck with a gold spear, headed silver. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Gerard, which was dated circa 1170, in "Documents relating to the Danelaw", Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. (web)


	2. Dance

**The Zai of Reunion**

_**A Law of Ueki Fanfiction**_

Sano Seiichiro X Rinko Gerrard

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**Ch. 2 - Dance**

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Due to the nature of its being an area for rest and relaxation, there is not much to do in a hot spring resort, even if you're the manager, especially if the said resort is small and mostly empty. Sano had been meaning to install a couple of karaoke rooms and a series of food and souvenir stalls, but so far all he'd been able to afford was a ping-pong table and a couple of low benches among the clearer areas of the surrounding trees, to serve as picnic or hang-out areas for guests with a feel for the outdoors. He went around, looking for his guests and trying to satisfy himself that they were having fun.

He found Mori, Ueki, Hideyoshi, and Kobasen engaged in an intense two-on-two ping-pong battle.

"You can't let them beat us!" Mori shrieked enthusiastically. "Remember! Kobasen said we'd be assured top marks if we won!"

"But Mori, we don't need him to bet that," Ueki said in a confused voice. "He's not our teacher any more. He can't change our grades."

"Says who?" replied Kobasen, delivering a vicious slice that Mori dove for and succeeded in countering.

"Whoa, did you hear that? I think you just splintered the table!" Hideyoshi jeered.

"Why, you-!"

When it seemed certain that Mori was not actually going to be able to damage the furnishings or the other guests (Ueki had gotten between her and Hideyoshi when she launched herself at him in a fury), Sano let his attention wander from them. He glanced around. He thought he had seen Rinko in the sidelines, watching the game with some amusement, but now she was nowhere to be found. He passed through the room and into the next. Finally he saw her across the hall. She had opened one of the other rooms and had wandered onto the grassy picnic area.

"Rinko!" he called, half-jogging to reach her.

She didn't immediately respond, so that Sano repeated himself in case he hadn't been heard. "Rinko," he said. Now she turned abruptly at the sound of her name. Sano stopped himself short so he would not bump into her, but he still ended up rather close. He had not noticed, last night, that the top of her head was only somewhere around his nose or chin. Three years before, they had been nearly the same height.

She tilted her head up to look at him. "Did you want me? Are we supposed to go grocery-shopping for dinner or something?" she wanted to know.

"I - ah -" Sano replied, feeling his neck and face heat up. _She was standing too close._ He fell back half a step and collected his thoughts. "Actually, I was just going around checking on you guys," he said. "I know there isn't much to do here yet, and you might be getting bored…"

Rinko smiled. "If you wanted business tips, you could have just said so," she said gently. "It's true, there isn't much here, but I think it's nice. Very relaxing atmosphere, tranquil and private. It's the perfect place for a weekend getaway, just to unwind. You've done an excellent job."

"Thank you," Sano replied, genuinely pleased. He had worked hard for years to get his little resort fixed. He still had great plans for it, but to be told that he'd done well was proof that he deserved to be proud of what he'd achieved.

"Well, if that's all," Rinko was saying.

"Oh," Sano said. "Oh. Well, actually…"

"You sure do use "actually" a whole lot now, Sano-kun."

"Somehow being around you makes me feel like I have to explain myself," Sano retorted automatically.

"Well, if that's the case, then I should be getting out of your hair," Rinko said lightly. She turned her head to the forested area close by. "Are there clear paths in there?"

"You don't need the clear paths," Sano replied, "but yes, there are. I have to warn you, though – sometimes there are wild animals, like foxes and bears."

Rinko beamed. "Then I must definitely go in!"

Sano's face fell. He had meant to discourage her from taking her walk, so that she would stay with him, although he had little idea what to do with her if she had. He had forgotten that Rinko was completely unable to see danger or malice in furry animals. She was precisely the type to get in trouble because some animal she thought was cute wanted to eat her and she could neither run away from it nor harm it. "…I'll go with you," he said.

.~*~.

The walk turned out to be entirely uneventful. If there were animals around, they were hiding from the noisy human explorers. Rinko tried to hide her disappointment, which made Sano smirk, although part of him was relieved, and another part of him regretted that he was unable to completely satisfy her – a guest, that is, a guest!

He tried to engage Rinko in idle chat, but somehow all he could think of was either three years ago, or business. He wasn't quite comfortable with bringing up Robert Haydn again, even if Rinko seemed okay with it, so he decided to talk business instead. "Do you think I can open formally before school starts in September?" he said.

Rinko shook her head doubtfully. "I think not," she said. "I mean, you're nearly ready, all you need is a bit more tweaking, but before a place can be opened you need a whole lot of publicity, and there's no way you'll get enough publicity by then," she said. "Besides, people don't usually go for _onsen_ in summer."

"Maybe by the beginning of winter break, then?" Sano replied. "December-ish? Just before Christmas, maybe? What do you do just then anyway?"

Rinko's eyes narrowed momentarily, but then she shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I'm usually getting ready for parties. Especially on Christmas Eve." She took a deep breath and continued, her voice suddenly tight. "As you might recall."

"No, I - " Sano began, then stopped. Something not in her words told him that wasn't right, that she was expecting him to say something else. _Parties? Christmas eve?_ He thought. Then it finally came to him. "Ack."

"I see you've remembered," Rinko noted, her voice still crisp and cool.

"Yes, I have," Sano replied, forcing his tone to be light. "Your birthday, of course. I sent you a card two years ago."

"I don't remember," Rinko replied tartly.

_So that was it,_ Sano thought. "Look, I'm sorry about your birthday party last year," he replied. He found it hard to look at her, now that he knew what she was angry about. "I meant to go, but…"

Rinko smiled brightly. "I accept your apology," she said. "It's perfectly fine, now."

Sano stopped walking to look at her. He thought she still looked rather pained. Her answer had been too prompt, too happy. "No, it's not," he said heavily, after a while.

"…Right," Rinko said, after an even longer pause. She, too, had stopped walking. She plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and twirled it between her fingers. "It's good you don't seem to expect me to forgive you so easily. You might have at least told me you weren't coming."

.~*~.

_Sano walked down a wide street in Azabu Prefecture, looking up at the houses in search of the Gerrards' Japan residence. He checked the invitation again, just to be sure. He'd heard that the Gerrards were rich, but he hadn't expected this. He felt like he'd been walking nearly an hour, and he hadn't gone past more than five lots, he guessed._

_Finally he came up to a large wrought-iron gate, flanked on each end by thick marble pillars, each with a shiny bronze plaque that declared the mansion within to be the Gerrard home. A white granite single-room guard house sat in the middle of the entrance lane, perhaps ten meters or so from the gate. A uniformed security guard leaned over a microphone, and an intercom on one of the marble pillars blared to life. "Gerrard residence. Please state your business."_

_Sano walked up to the intercom, which blared again as the security guard added helpfully, "Press the button to speak." Sano did so. "My name is Sano Seiichiro," he said loudly and clearly. "I'm here for the birthday party of Rinko."_

_A rustling sound emanated from the intercom as the security guard rifled through some papers, apparently a list of guests. After a moment he said, "Sir, you are on the guest list. However, I'm afraid I can't let you in."_

_Sano frowned. "Why?"_

"_Sir, you haven't followed the dress code. I'm sorry, but my instructions are very clear."_

"_Dress code?" Sano asked, bewildered._

"_Yes, sir. On the invitation, sir."_

_Nonplussed, Sano took his invitation out again. This time he examined every inch of it carefully. Finally, on the third page, in small font, he saw the English words: _Please come in Victorian masquerade or formal Western attire.

_Sano looked down at his best kimono and then at the gates, which remained implacably closed. He shrugged and walked off – he was obviously not getting in through there._

_Still, a mere wall and tight-assed security guard could hardly keep out Sano Seiichiro. He moseyed nonchalantly down the street, and, turning a corner, estimated where he would have to be in order to get past the view of the security guard. He paced towards the right spot and then turned several towels to grappling-hooks, scaling the wall in moments._

_He figured his kimono wasn't too bad, and he could always tie on a spare towel for a mask. It didn't take very long for him to get his bearings. There was noise and light coming from the opposite direction of the gate. He forged quickly towards the house._

_And stopped, not twenty meters from its doors._

_He had already seen that it was a big house, and, from the looks of the long buffet tables and various small tented gazebos scattered along the garden, a very big party. Still, there was nobody outside, and he could only have supposed that they were all inside, so that was where he was headed. Because he wasn't sure that other servants wouldn't try to throw him out, he had gone around the mansion looking for a window where he could see Rinko and perhaps wave to her; if _she_ let him in, nobody would be able to throw him out, dress code or no._

_He had succeeded in seeing her. He had not managed to call her attention. He had, in fact, not managed to do anything but stare._

.~*~.

"You were wearing an empress-cut gown, in soft gold, and had this little crown," Sano told Rinko softly. "You looked like a princess."

Rinko blushed but sniffed. "Ai-chan told you."

"You were dancing with an old man with hair the same color as yours, only with silver at the temples," Sano added. "You were talking with him."

"My father," Rinko sniffed again. "That Ai-chan! She tells you stories but doesn't get the characters straight!"

"You danced with a whole lot of guys, in a row. I remember Ueki, and Robert, and Kilnorton, and that person – your father – again," Sano continued. "Then you stopped and ran outside. I nearly called out, but you looked so upset I figured I couldn't just barge in."

.~*~.

_She had danced with one guy after another, her eighteen roses, the eighteen men who had earned the most important places in her heart within her lifetime. It had been difficult to fill the spaces, because Rinko had not really made a lot of friends until after the God Battles. According to Western tradition her first dance went to her father, and of course she had reserved dances for Robert, who was her first boyfriend; Ueki, whom she considered a close personal friend; and Edward, whom she was, in a way, friends-with-benefits with. She had let her parents choose the rest of her dance partners – cousins, children of Gerrard business allies, scions of families they might someday ally with – with one exception: the last, and most important, dance._

_The eighteenth rose: traditionally, the dance reserved for the man the debutante thought most highly of, the one she held dearest and loved the most._

_There was really only one guy for the dance. He was, after all, the person she considered her equal and closest friend, the one who knew her best, the one she respected the most, whom she would die for and whom she would trust with her life on the battlefield. He was different from Robert, from Ueki, from Edward, from her father. He was only himself._

_But as she looked around as the seventeenth dance ended, she could see that he still hadn't arrived._

_So she had gone to the master of ceremonies and told him not to announce the name of the eighteenth rose as listed in the programme he held. Instead, she said, call out for her father._

_The master of ceremonies had done so, and it was touching to see the surprise and joy in her father's face when she gave him the last dance. "First and last man in my life," she had teased him, and he had looked at her with such fond affection as he replied, "Of course – you're still Daddy's little girl." She couldn't help but respond to the love she felt from him, so she gave him a hug and finished the dance. When the music ended, however, she signaled a break to the master of ceremonies and ran outside while he entertained the crowd._

Sano, you stupid, stupid jerk, _she had thought, blinking back angry tears._

_.~*~.  
_

Sano was surprised when Rinko suddenly punched him. "What the - ?"

"The last dance was supposed to be yours, you dumbass," she muttered darkly, punching him again. "But you didn't show and I had to improvise at the last minute. You ruined my evening."

Sano's surprise turned to upset. He hadn't thought it was so important. Wasn't it just a party? "I – I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know."

"You never do!" she hissed.

She raised her fist again and tried to hit him, but he caught her hand easily. She didn't struggle. Instead, she began to cry.

Like many men, Sano was uncomfortable with women crying. Especially this one. He was too used to seeing her strong, and he hated seeing her hurt, especially knowing that it was his fault, even though he wasn't quite sure how. He cast about for a way to make her feel better, but he could only think of one thing. "Look," he said, "I know it's not quite the time, but if it's not too late, then - can I have this dance?"

Rinko did, indeed stop crying. She stared at him balefully, as if she wasn't sure if he was making fun of her or not, and therefore whether or not she ought to skewer him. Sano gave her a weak smile. "I'm already holding your hand," he said, raising her fist, which he had caught by the wrist. "So, all we have to do is…"

He placed one hand on her waist, like he had seen her partners do during the party he had not managed to attend. Then, because it felt right to him to do so, he pulled her a little bit closer, so that hardly a hand-span was between their bodies. They'd been closer before, among other things squeezed together in a tiny bathroom cubicle in battle, and she'd been flat on his back while he carried her to safety, but even without touching this somehow seemed more intimate. His smile faltered and disappeared. He found himself blushing, even more so when he discovered that she was blushing too.

"Y… you're not supposed to hold my wrist so tightly," Rinko stammered. "I – I mean, if you want to… to dance."

He tried to smile at her, to reassure her, but he found it difficult somehow. He released his grip on her wrist. She allowed her hand to settle into his, where it rested, comfortably, in the hollow of his palm. She had very soft hands, although he could feel scars here and there from misfires of her bead-bombs, very different from his own work-toughened skin. Since this had been his idea he tried to lead, but to tell the truth, he wasn't well-versed in Western dancing. He had hardly taken one step when he faltered. "There's no music," he excused himself weakly.

"You're not listening hard enough," Rinko replied softly, smiling at him now.

Indeed, now that she mentioned it, Sano could almost hear music, unless he was humming to himself. It suddenly seemed easier to move (Rinko was leading). And they managed to dance together very well.

**(****to be continued)**

**

* * *

A/N:** Now we learn what the invitation in Chapter 1 is about. ^_^ Incidentally, I might write something on that party, or at least a party involving Rinko, and a few other well-known rich kids… But not for this fic. Again, reviews and suggestions are welcome! I've planned out the next two chapters, but who knows...?


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